A Burns Lake resident might soon make herself and the village more familiar names for millions of people.
Terri Shields, a hair stylist at the Curly Temple Hair Salon has since early May been in first place in the Maxim Cover Girl contest.
“My friend saw the contest and said ‘send your pictures in.’ So I did and they accepted me right away. I was actually a late runner. This was three weeks ago,” Shields told Lakes District News.
The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 and be on the cover of the men’s magazine and appear in a double-page feature spread.
Visitors to Maxim’s website vote on the hundreds of women from around the world who joined the contest. The more votes, the higher the contestants rise in the rankings.
Shields rose quickly.
“I came to work, I put my name in. Out of my group there was 34 girls. And in two or three hours I was in second or third place. I stayed in third for a couple days. Then second. Then first. I stayed first that whole three weeks,” she explained.
There are three more rounds of voting until the grand prize winner is announced on June 20.
“The more people who see it the more people can keep voting. It’s about publicity and being seen on social media and in newspapers. The most votes is how you win.”
“I used to model back in the day in New York City. That was when I was 17-18. I did print work, commercial work. I did some advertisements, for Budweiser, [and] I did a shoot for a cell phone company. I [appeared in] The Girl Next Door. That was a sitcom that didn’t air,” she said.
Her modelling ended when she returned to Burns Lake, got married and had three boys.
If Shields wins, her first thought is how she could use the prize money to help the Burns Lake community.
“I was actually going to talk to Candice Little and see if I could help out with the food bank, since I am a single mom. I know what it’s like to be a single mom. It’s hard,” she said, adding that she would also pay off debts and put the money into savings.
“I definitely want to give back to our community because it has helped me so much with stuff, with being a single mom and helping with the votes. They’ve been amazing. I can’t even get over how much support people have been giving me here. They’re all just cheering for me. The community is amazing.”